It’s been a long time since I last did an interview, and when Steve Radabaugh of Radical Bomb got in touch and explained the project he was working on — Tablets & Titans, a tabletop RPG designed to be played on tablet computers — I thought it was something Gnome Stew readers would be interested in, and an interview seemed like a good way to find out more. Steve launched his Kickstarter for Tablets & Titans a couple of days ago.

Gnome Stew (GS): Welcome to the Stew, Steve! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your company.

Steve Radabaugh (SR): Thanks for having me!

I’ve been playing RPGs since Middle School, and I’ve always enjoyed creating things to assist the game. I’ve made everything from a map riser to ceramic bloodied markers. Last fall I decided to put my Computer Science degree to use and I started creating character tracking apps for a couple of indie RPGs. (Fate Core Folio for Fate, and Light Weight RPG Character Sheet for the Light Weight RPG.) I really enjoyed making those and rediscovered my love of programming. So, recently I took the leap, quit my day job and started my own company doing freelance software development. I’m fortunate that I have a supportive family and I can spend some time building up my business.

GS: You’ve just launched a Kickstarter campaign for Tablets & Titans — what’s the elevator pitch for the game?

SR: Tablets & Titans is a Full Tabletop RPG experience contained within an app. iPads and Android tablets will track all of the necessary details so that players can focus on the game.

GS: What kind of game is T&T?

Tablets & Titans is a table top RPG at it’s heart.

GS: Right, but: multi-genre, baked-in campaign setting, collaborative world creation — where does T&T fit among other games? If I sit down to play it, what kind of game will I be playing?

SR:I’m considering it an open system, much like Savage Worlds or GURPS. That said, it will initially come with a module for a generic fantasy campaign. I’m going to try to include enough in there that you can play games set in most popular fantasy settings. Eventually, you’ll be able to purchase additional expansions for more settings. I’m planning to offer Modern, Sci-Fi, Superheroes, and others. I’m going to make all of the expansions very modular. You could take the equipment and technology from Sci-Fi, add in the magic and races of Fantasy and end up with something that feels like a certain cyberpunk setting. So, when you sit down to play T&T, hopefully you’ll be playing whatever type of game strikes your GM’s fancy.

GS: What makes Tablets & Titans unique?

SR: What sets Tablets & Titans apart is that because we have devices to do all the work, we can let the rules of the game on the back end be more complex without bogging down gameplay. For instance, right now when you do an attack the speed of the attack is added to your character’s speed, and that determines when your next turn is. A character with a high dexterity and a dagger is going to be able to attack more often than a character with a low dexterity and a great sword. Tracking that with traditional methods would be a nightmare, but with Tablets & Titans you don’t even have to think about it.

GS: What does Tablets & Titans do for GMs, or allow GMs to do, that’s like no other game out there?

SR: When I’m playing it with my playtest group, I love that I don’t have to keep track of anything. When a player attacks one of the monsters, the players iPad tells my iPad about the attack and it’s all resolved right there. I see the attack pop up in the log, and if it was successful I see the monster lose health and possibly die.

GS: That sounds like it would feel different from most RPGs. Does it? How?

SR:It is a bit different. This may come off a bit evangelical, but It’s liberating. I’ve found myself drawn into side conversations and not even known that players took their turn. This has really sped up combat.

GS: Can you run us through a couple of short examples, maybe a round or two of a fight and some kind of non-combat challenge?

Okay, I’ll run through the math on the first attack, but not after that.

When the GM declares a new combat, the GMs iPad will calculate initiative and roll for any ties. For this we’ll assume that player Bob goes first. Bob will get a big “Your Turn” sign at the top of his screen. Since Bob is an archer, he picks one of the goblins that he wants to attack. Then at the bottom of the screen will be a list of abilities that he has. He’s going to pick his Aimed shot and attack. The iPad will roll 2d10, add his base ranged attack score, add the aimed shot attack score, and add the bows attack modifier. It’ll then send that roll to the GM’s iPad. The GM’s iPad will roll 2d10 plus the goblins base dodge score. If the goblin dodges, then that’s the end of it. In this example the attack rolled a 15(2d10)+9, and the goblin rolled 13(2d10)+5. That’s a 28 vs an 18. We take that spread of 10 multiply it by the characters level, and divide by 4. Since Bob is first level, we get a 2.5 or 2 after rounding then add the weapon damage and Bob’s base ranged attack score again. So 10 damage. The goblins health drops by 10, and everyone gets a chat message that says “Bob attacked the Goblin for 10 damage.”

Next it’s Mary’s turn, and she has a fighter so she moves up to the Goblin (Clicks the move icon on her tablet, and moves her mini next to the goblin’s mini). The goblin goes next and swings at Mary (The GM’s iPad highlights the goblin, the GM selects Mary as the target and clicks the basic attack button under the Goblin), but Mary parries it. Since Mary’s move action was a lower initiative cost than the Aimed shot, she goes next. She does a basic melee attack at the goblin (Selects the Goblin, and clicks the basic Melee attack) and hits it for another 7. The goblin swings again at Mary, and this time hits her for 8. Now the initiative has gotten back to Bob. He uses a basic ranged attack, but misses. etc. etc.

I’m still working on non-combat skills. I have two different methods I want to implement, but only one is implemented right now.

The first one is the GM clicks a button that says Request Skill Check. A window pops up with a list of skills available. The GM selects the desired skill, then it shows a list of connected players. The GM selects which players should get the request, then clicks done. The players will all get an alert that pops up saying that the GM has requested a skill check. They can either cancel it, or click a button to roll. 2d10 are rolled in the background, the characters skill level is added, and the results of the roll are posted in the chat/combat log.

The other one, that I haven’t implemented yet, is the GM will present the players with some sort of challenge, say a locked door. Players will be able to select it and be presented with a list of skills that the GM feels is applicable to the challenge. (I’ll have some pre-built challenges to choose from). The player can then click on the skill, 2d10 is rolled in the background and added to the skill value then compared to the toughness of the challenge.

GS: What platforms and hardware does Tablets & Titans run on?

SR: Right now, the prototype runs on iPads (all versions). I’ll be building the final for both iPads and Android tablets. If things go well then I will look into phone sizes as well. I want to be as inclusive as I can.

GS: Can a group use it on a mix of hardware? For example, the GM on an Android tablet, one player on an iPad, another on an Android phone, and one on an iPhone?

SR: Eventually, yes. With the prototype all of my networking is done with Apple’s gamekit which is proprietary. I’m going to be switch that over to alljoyn which is designed for multiplatform local communication.

GS: Doesn’t the need for this sort of hardware present a barrier for younger gamers, students, or folks without a source of disposable income?

SR: There will definitely be some that are pushed away by this. I’m looking at allowing a couple players to share one device for groups where one or two people don’t have something to play on. I used to work in a school district that gave every high school student an iPad, so I might have a bit of a skewed vision of the availability of hardware to the general public.

GS: Can Tablets & Titans be used as a sort of platform to play other RPGs?

SR: No. The app and the rules are pretty symbiotic. I thought about using another system for a while, but traditional RPGs have a lot of nuances in them that are difficult to implement in software. I also didn’t want to worry about licensing.

GS: What’s your favorite thing about Tablets & Titans?

SR: I love how it’s marrying traditional role playing with modern technology. Even though you are using tablets to play, it feels like you’re playing a tabletop RPG.

GS: What are your future plans for Tablets & Titans?

SR: I have a lot of plans that may be a bit ambitious. I would like to eventually have a platform for purchasing and selling additional content for the game. GMs could be buying adventures or more campaign settings, players could be buying more options for their characters, and designers can be uploading their own content to sell. That’s all pretty far off though, and I want to focus for now on the core part of the game.

GS: Thanks for dropping by the Stew, Steve! Is there anything else you’d like to share with us before we wrap up?

SR: Thanks again for having me. I’m really excited about this project and I’m glad I was able to share about it. I hope any of your readers who are interested will stop by the kickstarter and check it out.